Thirteen & Counting
by Arayllin
Summary: "I tried to tell you that guy was nothing but trouble!" He shrieked, "and now you've both been cursed and there's nothing we can do about it! What were you THINKING?"
1. Prologue

"Hey, Haruhi, look!"

When the twins came bursting into Music Room 3, she quickly realized she really had no choice but to do what they wanted her to do.

"I'm trying to study," she said dully, knowing it wouldn't make a difference. They shrugged her off.

"This is much more important than studying, Haruhi," Kaoru said coolly, taking her arm and pulling her away from her work. Hikaru wasted no time in doing the same on her other side, and as one they grinned at her.

"_Look at what we got!"_

Haruhi stared at the duo in skeptical silence for a moment, until they pulled something out from behind their backs. She blinked.

"_Impressive, huh?" _They were still grinning, but she hadn't quite yet registered what it was they were showing her.

"Is that... Beelzenef?"

"The one and only!" Hikaru announce, yanking it from his brother's grasp.

"We took it right out from under Nekozawa's nose," Kaoru grinned. "He never even noticed we were there!"

Haruhi, however, was far from impressed. "You guys," she said disapprovingly, "you shouldn't take things that don't belong to you. That cat is really important to–"

"Yeah, yeah, we'll give it back." Hikaru rolled his eyes.

"Just not yet," Kaoru added.

"_First we have to show it off,"_ they said the last line together. _"Come on!"_ Grabbing at her again, they turned to leave the room, presumably to find the other club members and show off their catch. However, before they had a chance to even take another step, a loud shriek came from the direction of a closed door just behind them.

"Uh oh." Hikaru froze, glancing back at the door.

"He found it." Kaoru looked back as well, and Haruhi couldn't help but follow their gaze.

"Found what?" She asked, unsure if she even wanted to know. No doubt they had left something nasty in Beelzenef's place, and Nekozawa was just discovering it now. He was probably furious.

If the twins ever answered her, however, she didn't hear it, because at that very moment all the lights in the room went out at once, and they were plunged into total darkness.

Well, except for the red, glowing eyes of the puppet still clutched tightly in Hikaru's hand.


	2. Cursed!

By the time Haruhi located the light switch and brought the room back into view, it was a very different scene that met her eyes.

The door to Nekozawa's room was wide open – no surprise – and nothing but darkness showed beyond it. There was no sign of Nekozawa himself, of course.

Beelzenef stood upright in the middle of the floor, looking just as much like a stuffed toy as ever. That however, was not what caught and held Haruhi's attention when the lights came back on. No, her attention turned instead to what _surrounded_ Beelzenef.

On either side of the cat, the Hitachiin brothers were sprawled senseless on the floor.

Gasping, Haruhi stayed completely frozen for a moment, before racing to the side of the nearest twin.

"Hikaru!" She knelt beside him, grabbing his shoulder and giving him a rough shake. "Hikaru, wake up!" He let out a soft groan, lifting a hand to his forehead.

Satisfied that he, at least, was alive, Haruhi jumped up again and bolted to crouch beside Kaoru instead.

"Kaoru? Can you hear me?"

The young man didn't move, and neither did Haruhi, even as Hikaru began moving behind her. "...Kaoru?" She leaned forwards and shook him as she had his brother, but he still didn't move. "_Kaoru, a_nswer me!"

"Haruhi?" The answer that finally met her came from the opposite direction, and she turned to see Hikaru on his knees, his hands covering his face.

"Hikaru, help me," she said quickly. "It's Kaoru. I can't get him to... hey, are you all right?"

"I'm fine," he said back, leaning forwards. "Where's Kaoru?"

"He's right... here." Haruhi continued to stare as Hikaru held a hand out in front of himself, muttering something as he stumbled forwards.

"It's so dark in here," Haruhi made out. "Where are the lights?"

Haruhi glanced over at the switch. "It's... there," she said slowly. "Hikaru, are you _sure_ you're okay?"

"I already told you I'm fine!" he snapped. "I just can't see any- whoa, hey!" She had pulled his one hand away from his face, and she stared at him, shocked. "Haruhi, what are you-"

"Your eyes."

"My eyes? What?" He looked confused, but Haruhi couldn't seem to tear her own gaze away from the dull whiteness covering over the places where his pupils should have been. He was... blind.

"Hikaru, that cat... it _did_ something to you."

"It what?"

"Your eyes... you're... _blind_."

"I'm... knock it off, Haruhi," he scowled. "Where's the light? Where's Kaoru?"

The sudden reminder jolted Haruhi out of her stupor, and she spun back to face the slumbering teen. Hikaru would have to wait.

"Kaoru can you hear me?" She placed her fingers on his neck, picking up a pulse with a sigh of relief. His chest rose and fell steadily – he was most certainly alive. Whether or not he was okay, she couldn't tell. No matter how she shook him and his the ground and said his name, Kaoru didn't so much as twitch. Totally unresponsive.

"Something is seriously wrong here," she said almost to herself, glancing over at Hikaru again. In doing so, she accidentally made eye contact with Beelzenef, and she shuddering, looking away as quickly as she could, just in time to hear the door swing open and the club filtering in. As expected, Tamaki spoke first.

"Oh, Haruhi!" he gushed. "I knew we would find you here! We were just-"

"Something's wrong," Kyoya cut his leader off easily, looking between the crouching Haruhi, motionless Kaoru and swaying Hikaru. A moment of silence later, then others raced into the room.

"Kao-chan!" Honey crouched beside the slumped Hitachiin, while Mori hovered nearer Haruhi and Tamaki froze up at the sight of the doll sitting between them.

"Thank goodness you guys are here," Hikaru said, clearly irritated as he finally rose to his feet. "Can someone hit the lights? Haruhi's trying to convince me I've gone blind over here, and it's really beginning to wear on my nerves."

There was another moment of silence, and then Kyoya cleared his throat.

"As it turns out," he said calmly, "the lights _are_ on."

"They're... what?" Glaring, Hikaru reached out a hand, looking for a wall or something to grab onto. "No they're not. It's black as-"

"He's blind," Haruhi said dully. "And Kaoru... he won't wake up." Hikaru froze, and the others gave Haruhi a curious look. She pointed to Beelzenef.

"They stole Nekozawa-senpai's doll," she said tiredly. "The lights went out, and once I got them back on, this had happened."

"YOU _TOUCHED IT_?!" Tamaki's eyes were huge as Hikaru recovered and stumbled towards the wall. He narrowly avoided crashing into Mori, who moved in time for the redhead to reach his goal. He began working his way towards where he assumed the light was.

"Yeah we touched it," he said it, more than a little annoyed. "It was a joke, okay?"

"A _JOKE_!?" Tamaki was shouting, still as far away from the doll as he could get without leaving the room. "That thing is _CURSED_! IT'S NOT A JOKE! DO YOU EVEN KNOW WHAT YOU'VE-"

"Tamaki." Kyoya interjected again. "That's enough." He was leaning over Kaoru now, his mask slipping as he shook the younger teen's shoulder. "This is serious."

"I think Kao-chan's hurt bad!" Honey exclaimed, his voice cracking as he clutched Usa-Chan tightly. Hikaru tensed up again – sure as he was this was all some sick joke, he was tired of hearing his twin's condition from these people. He rushed the last foot or so, reaching the light switch and throwing it on. Or, he attempted to, but as soon as his hand made contact, he froze.

"Told you," Haruhi said gently, and he turned around again. His back against the wall, Hikaru faced his friends with wide eyes.

"Am I really... really...?"

"Your eyes are all white, Hika-chan," Honey chimed from directly in front of him, and Hikaru jumped.

"Don't sneak up on me like that!" He shouted, then his voice grew soft again. "White, you say..."

"I _TOLD_ you not to mess with that-"

"Tamaki, shut up."

There was another moment of silence. Nobody really knew how to take in what was going on, or how to explain it. Hikaru was blind, Kaoru practically comatose, and the presence of Nekozawa's puppet only served to make the whole thing _more_ confusing... it was too much. Too impossible.

After another moment or so, someone finally spoke up. However, it wasn't a host, and they all started to find Umehito Nekozawa himself standing among them, draped in black as usual.

"This isn't good, Beelzenef," he said softly, almost chidingly. He strolled past Kaoru's body, bending to scoop his beloved doll into his arms. His robes swished as he rose again, and his hooded eyes swept the room. "You shouldn't have touched him."

Nobody moved but Tamaki, who had pressed himself against the door as far back as he could get. He was obviously terrified of the senior – as usual – but the rest of the club just stared.

"What did you do to Hika-chan and Kao-chan?" Honey demanded bravely. Mori inched closer and laid a hand on his shoulder.

"What did _I _do?" Nekozawa laughed, a chilling sound. "I didn't do anything."

"But something happened," Haruhi rose as well, glaring openly. "And you know. You know what happened, senpai."

"Maybe I do," he replied simply. "And maybe I think they _deserved_ it." He eyed each twin with thinly-masked contempt. "They shouldn't have tried to take my Beelze-!" He cut off mid-sentence, and Haruhi was surprised to find Mori standing directly behind him. The quietest host was holding a fistful of Nekozawa's robe, and he spoke softly, so that they had to strain themselves to hear him.

"Tell us what you did," Mori said cooly, tightening his grip in an unspoken-but-obvious threat. "Now."

"Yeah, or Takashi's gonna pull your robe off!" Honey added, perhaps a bit too cheerfully. Nekozawa hesitated, but a small tug from Mori was all it took to convince him.

"Fine," he growled, ignoring Tamaki's ever-growing whimpers. "I'l tell you. But you won't be happy about it."

"I'm already not happy about it," Hikaru spoke up, reminding them all of his presence. He'd crossed his arms, leaning against the wall and unwilling to risk further disorientation by moving away from it.

"I'm sure you aren't," Nekozawa agreed, "but don't interrupt." He paused, glancing down at his cat with a frightening fondness. "You see, it wasn't I that cursed you – yes, _cursed_." Directed at Tamaki, of course. "It was Beelzenef."

"Beelzenef?" Haruhi repeated flatly. "Really?"

"Really," Nekozawa nodded, removing himself from Mori's grasp. "He doesn't take kindly to begin _manhandled_." He took a step away from the threat, stroking the cat as he went on. "I suppose he just fired off the first curse he could manage."

"So we're cursed, then?" Hikaru couldn't believe this was happening.

Nekozawa nodded, smirking because he knew the teen couldn't see him.

"Yes, you are cursed," he said. "And it's a wonderful curse too."

"What do you mean?" Haruhi narrowed her eyes, beginning to get annoyed with the lack of actual information being shared.

"Well," Beelzenef vanished under Nekozawa's robes, "he tried to fire a single curse at the both of them – a rather nasty one, might I add – but they were too far apart. The curse split, and they both got hit with a different part of it, see?"

"I don't _see _anything," Hikaru spat, causing almost everyone present to wince.

"So how do we fix it?" Haruhi glanced between her friends, and then back to Nekozawa, arms folded.

"It should just wear off," the senior answered. "This one in thirteen days." He laughed. "What a lovely number, thirteen." He laughed again, sliding around Mori and back towards the door to his own room. "It will be a most unpleasant thirteen days for the both of you, I'm sure."

"Oh no you don't," Mori reached to grab him again, but Nekozawa dodged easily.

"Nekozawa-senpai, please!" Haruhi lunged forwards as well, "just tell us how to fix it! Can't you reverse it yourself?"

"No," he said simply, stopping fast. "I cannot reverse what I did not cast. You'll just have to wait it out." He paused.

"But you _can_ do _something_," Kyoya said after a moment.

Nekozawa nodded slowly. "Yes," he said.

"Then do it," Mori spoke again, and Nekozawa sighed.

"All right," he stared at the ground. "But only because you helped _her_..." they knew exactly what he meant. He slinked away from Mori once again, coming to rest over Kaoru's still-lifeless body. "I can't do anything for _that _one," he nodded at Hikaru, "but I can make _this _one a little less miserable for the next two weeks."

"You could wake him up, at least," Haruhi said.

"Can't," Nekozawa shook his head. "But I can... you know what, just watch."

He crouched over the younger Hitachiin, his robes enveloping Kaoru's legs as he did so. Everyone fell silent.

"Give me your hand," Nekozawa said suddenly, holding his own arm out. Nobody moved. "Just do it," Nekozawa said, looking towards Mori, but a little to the left. "I'm trying to help."

Another moment of silence passed, and the club wasn't sure what to do at all. Kyoya and Mori were watching with expressions as neutral as ever, while Honey and Tamaki were clearly antsy. Haruhi herself was just worried, trying to watch Nekozawa and Hikaru at the same time, while the newly-blinded host remained statue-like against the wall.

Nekozawa's outstretched hand closed suddenly, as if another one had taken it, and then in a sudden motion he's thrust his hand violently towards Kaoru's body. Haruhi's breath caught in her throat as it plunged easily into the redhead's chest. Honey screamed.

Within an instant, Haruhi, Mori and Kyoya were standing over Nekozawa.

"What did you-" Haruhi began shouting, but cut herself off as she realized what was going on.

Well, sort of.

To all appearances, Nekozawa's hand was inside Kaoru's chest. It was visible up to his wrist, at which point it vanished in a swirl of purple and black. It had to be... magic.

"Shhh," Nekozawa whispered, muttering an incantation under his breath as he moved his hand again. It looked to Haruhi like he was trying to pull something out of Kaoru, but she bit her tongue. Better to let him work than to risk messing something up... right?

She was proved to be right when Nekozawa's hand resurfaced, the purple of his magic tainted by a pulsing orb of brilliant blue clutched in his grip.

"Take it," he said softly. The orb remained in his hand a moment longer, then it rose into the air and let out an astonishingly bright burst of light then blinded them all. Squinting against it Haruhi could have sworn she saw the younger Hitachiin standing above Nekozawa with an expression of surprise, but when the light faded Kaoru was still lying on the ground, motionless as ever.

Nekozawa's hand retreated back into his robes, and he stood. "They should be able to hear you now."

The club exchanged glances yet again, simultaneously concerned and curious. Haruhi stepped forwards to talk, but a sudden voice beat her to it, coming from the empty space just ahead of them.

"Can they?"

"Kaoru!" Hikaru cried suddenly.

"Hikaru!" The voice responded, suddenly closer to Hikaru. "You can hear me?"

"Of course I can, I'm not deaf!" Hikaru reached out a hand, but there was nothing there. "Where are you?"

"I'm right in front of you," Kaoru said slowly, "but you couldn't hear me a minute ago..."

"But, there's nothing there?" honey came up beside Hikaru, and the voice sighed.

"I think I'm invisible," he said sadly. "I'm not sure what-"

"Not invisible," Nekozawa said casually. "You were hit with the _spirit_ side of the dual curse, which separated your spirit from your body." He chuckled at the club's alarmed expressions. "Don't worry, his body will be fine. It can breathe on its own, but its technically brain dead, so don't take it to a hospital or anything. After the thirteen days he'll probably just be sucked back into it." He shrugged, "it's better than the physical curse in my opinion, but it's gonna get lonely pretty fast."

"Ph-physical curse?" Tamaki echoed, and Nekozawa nodded towards Hikaru.

"Yeah, like that one. The wave that hit him was really quite unstable, there's no telling what it could do to him. It's probably going to change day to day though, so unless I'm wrong he'll be seeing again by tomorrow." He shrugged, "a shame, really."

"Thank you, Umehito," Kyoya said finally, ready as anyone to be done with the discussion. The robed student gave a small nod, then skirted Mori once again and ducked into his own room. The door slid shut behind him with a silent click, leaving the host club to their own devices.


End file.
